ok... the shuttle pulls up to the ISS, makes its "gainer"
backflip for photo shots of the belly, and then comes up in front of the
station to dock... in effect, the shuttle rises into the station since it
is belly forward to the direction of travel...

now, when one is watching NASA TV, the photos of the group's passage over
the earth show the ground travel to be away from the belly of the shuttle
instead of toward it as it was when the shuttle docked with the station...

so... the question(s), how does this happen? do they pancake spin the
station after the shuttle has docked so the station is "pulling"
it instead of "pushing" it? if so, why? surely the belly of the
shuttle is much more protected than the open cargo bay?

)\/(ark